Persisting Human In-Security: The Case of North Kivu
Growing up and living in Tanzania, I have come to appreciate the relative safety in my surroundings; this ranges from present political opposition that seems to erupt in small doses- to people’s struggle against poverty especially at the grassroots level where the majority of the population strive for basics like food and shelter. People in the neighboring states, however, have had a fair share of conflict and violence.
My research is a presentation of the conflict in eastern DRC (North Kivu) where insecurity is posed in form of violent conflict, tension among the people, and natural hazards. I focus on the chaotic pattern that the process of peace and violence has taken over the past two decades hence my relation to chaos theory. What I note in this study is how human security has been affected, that is, presence and quality of human life starting with an individual’s denial of safety and dignity over choices regarding one’s life.
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There were moments when I was so absorbed in the writing and reading, my mother and friends complained about how silent I had become, nowhere close to my usual self. In my defense, reading on the situation in the Congo and corresponding with persons on the ground made my real life seem unreal. Then there where days when I felt I had run low on energy and inspiration to go on, I quickly reached out to my usual self- travel, friends, food until I felt my thesis calling me back; I would get ideas, someone would offer to connect me to someone on the ground and I knew this is my next cue.